Alamgari Bazaar residents flee homes after houses develop cracks
NBCC draws flak for faulty drainage construction, utilizing bulldozers to dig out hard Rocks 14ft deep
Residents of Alamgari Bazaar in summer capital have started fleeing their homes after various structures in the area developed massive cracks.
The frightened residents of Shree Bhat locality of Alamgari Bazar fear that their house are in danger of collapse after contractor dug 14 feet furrow in a street adjacent to their houses to remove hard Rocks which were halting the construction of surface drain.They alleged the contractor utilized bulldozers to remove rocks which wrecked havoc in the street.
“The illegal and unprofessional digging resulted in cracks to many houses. The cracks can cause collapse,” President, Mohalla Committee Muhammad Altaf, told .
He said the construction of the drain was started last month by the National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) through a contractor.
“The civil work was going on smoothly till last week when they brought bulldozers to remove rocks. Soon, after the hole was dug, our houses develop massive cracks. We were frightened to notice the cracks widening next day,” said Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, a frightened resident. “We immediately decided to flee our homes as we were apprehensive that house may collapse.”
“Some days after the incident we approached the concerned contractor with the grievance asking him to repair the damage as the damage was done due to unnecessary digging by him. However, he showed cold shoulders towards our problem which forced us to approach police station to register a complaint. Later our house was declared unsafe by the authorities of Srinagar Municipal Corporation,” he said.
Sameer Ali, another resident said his house too developed cracks and compound wall almost collapsed after the faulty digging. “It also damaged our small commercial complex housing an HDFC bank branch and few shops. We have dismantled it and contractor assured he will compensate us,” he said.
Assistant Engineer, NBCC, Suhail Hussain said: “We have already started repairing the damage of the buildings which houses HDFC Bank. We are now negotiating with other house owners. I assure you that their houses will also be repaired in due course of time.”
